English Dub Season Review: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind

Overview (Possible Spoilers Below)

Based on the ongoing manga series by Hirohiko Araki, the 5th story of this arc takes place in Italy in 2001, Giorno Giovanna, who just happens to be the son of the Jojo franchise’s most infamous supervillain Dio Brando while also being sort-of related to the Joestar Bloodline through convoluted means, is receding in a crime-infested Italy. He wants to join the mafia in an effort to change their illegal business model from within by getting the drugs they peddle off the street. He meets with Bruno Bucciarati, who sympathizes with Giorno’s cause and eventually has him join his small circle of Stand User friends who just so happen to also part of the very same mafia branch called “Passione”, where we meet the rest of the supporting cast such as Narancia, Guido Mista, Abbachio, Fugo and later Trish along with Bruno himself. their travels take them all over Italy, showing beautiful scenery, having amazing Stand fights, along with the most objectively, clever & bizarre storytelling at the forefront living up to the show’s title.

However, the story doesn’t really pick up until Passione’s mysterious mob boss wants Bruno and his gang to protect his daughter from the “Hitman Team, who are a small group of rogue Passione members that also want to dethrone the boss themselves. Much like previous storylines within Jojo such as Stardust Crusaders and Diamond is Unbreakable, the show would often operate on a structured “Badguy of the week” format which is easy to follow, at times but will occasionally break the dynamic when necessary or change things up in other ways as exemplified with each member of Passione goes up against a Hitman Team member as they travel across Italy while during their quest.

In addition to Giorno, the group of supporting characters composed of social outcasts, who like the protagonist in the mafia has found a secure foothold. We have Bruno Bucciarati, leader of this group, who despite not having a powerful Stand, with “Zipper-Man” manages to invent versatile strategies, so much so that many times with his charisma, he sometimes even outshines Giorno as a protagonist. The supporting characters are often very believable and well-written, and the character development has also been done very well equally with the villains themselves who are oozing with personality and style. I think this is also worth pointing out but like previous Jojo stories, nobody is safe and anyone can actually die which helps add to the level of suspense and urgency. and the main cast doesn’t get away from anything without consequences. There’s even some subtle religious symbolism sprinkled throughout and if I could describe the story in one word, it would be “fate”.

Since the franchise has always been famous in naming certain characters and Stands after songs, singers bands, and albums and while Stardust Crusaders got away with a lot of leaving the Stand names untouched due to its recurring theme of Tarot cards, and since Diamond is Unbreakable, Most Stand & character names have been changed to avoid certain copyright violations. For Example, Giorno’s Stand “Golden Wind” is called “Gold Experience” in Japan which was also the name of a Prince album, while also in Japan, Narancia’s “Lil’Bomber” Stand is named after the iconic rock band Aerosmith.

The voice acting for the Dub is excellent all-around with some voice actors I haven’t even heard of that are dipping their toes into their roles with such grace. Phillip Reich takes the lead as Giorno along with Ray Chase as Bruno. While others like Sean Chiplock do an excellent job with the roles they’re given. The fights between stands are always more ingenious and their duration grows more and more, so much so that we will have to see more than one episode for a single opponent. The music is also breath-taking in places thanks to the efforts of Yugo Kanno, and much like the past Jojo Seasons that used popular music for its end credits, this one had some unusual choices such as the R&B Jodeci song “Freek’n You” while the latter half the Season had a more intense and serious tone with Enigma’s “Modern Crusaders” which helped convey a symbolic atmosphere and visuals within the credits.

If I had any problems with the storyline itself, is that there’s almost no breathing room between the fights and it feels that the battles are simply inconsequential from one another, and with how far the episodes progress, you almost forget to care about Giorno’s cause to clean up the Mafia internally which almost feels like an afterthought with every twist and turn the show throws at you. Still, I did like what David Production has done so far, despite me thinking that they didn’t do enough. They took the time in crafting how the fights are presented and how the characters interact with each other; their attention-to-detail is impressive to admire and to sit through. Reportedly, while the animation team David Production tried their hardest in making one of this storyline the most aesthetically distinct anime in recent memory that is complimented by the lush and colorful landscapes of Italy which make sense given that Jojo’s longtime creator, Hikohiro Araki has nothing but love for Italian culture as he’s conveyed multiple times in past Jojo storylines and even in interviews.


Our Take

To be perfectly honest I was very apprehensive going into this Jojo storyline as the idea of a mob syndicate with Stand Powers didn’t appeal to me at first or felt consistent with the previous Jojo storylines as the focus was primarily the son of an infamous Jojo supervillain that through unusual means made Giorno also related to the Joestar family, but as I got further into the show, thanks to Araki’s writing, those worries were put to rest.

Even if it didn’t always feel like it took place within the same universe they at least throw in a few characters from past storylines to remind us that it did which equally worked as both fanservice while giving these characters an actual purpose within the narrative. I’m glad I got into this series with low expectations because It surprised me in the best possible way.

At the time of this review, the 6th Jojo Storyline known as “Stone Ocean” was teased during Golden Wind’s original airing in Japan but has yet to be announced for an anime adaptation. But after seeing Part 5, I look forward to the possibility of it being a reality with an English Dub in the future. If you loved the past seasons of JoJo, you’ll also probably end up enjoying this one too.